Help on very temporary fix for a hole in my wetsuit

Duct tape was my immediate thought (High school tech teacher disclaimer), but I would put it on both sides, making a wetsuit sandwich.

i'd just swim with the hole and not worry about.  BTW, i do have a brand new wetsuit for sale cheap if your in the market for a new one.

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/spo/2033009206.html 

Neoprene repair is extremely easy. You have plenty of time for a permanant repair before the weekend.  Get a tube of AquaSeal from you local dive shop.  Is it a quarter size hole or a quater size tear?  If it is a tear, with no missing fabric lay the suit flat and glue the tear shut with aquaseal.  Let dry over night, turn the wetsuit inside out and do the same on the inside of the suit.  Done.  Aquaseal is amazing.  You could sew it up first if it is really nasty.  If it is a hole, you will have to find some neoprene fabric and splice it in.

DON'T PUT DUCT TAPE ON YOUR WETSUIT!!!

Agree with the recommendation for aquaseal. It really is easy and won't interfere with a later repair. The duct tape will be a pain for time to come because of the sticky residue. Also, it really doesn't hold in in cold and wet conditions. I come from a whitewater kayak and rafting background and people always try it on the river and are typically disapointed in their McGyver momenet.

I repaired a bunch of holes on my wetsuit (bought a rental). The fingernail holes are the easiest and the video gives some great advice. If you have a chunk removed, it is harder but not impossible. There are PATCH kits which work great. In my case I was at a race in Central Oregon and so went to a fly fishing store and bought a wader repair kit and it worked great.



Edited by cbrave 2010-11-04 2:49 PM

+1 on above.  Worst case scenario take it down to your local dive shop.  When I went down there to pick up repair cement the guys at my local shop were ready to fix it right then and there.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my wetsuit with me.

x3 on Aquaseal.

Just a few words about Aquaseal...
1. don't use too much
2. it takes about 8 hours before it is ready to use

very hard to get off your fingers!

a few tricks to make the remaining glue last longer in the tube :
1. put a piece of plastic wrap under the cap and screw it on to make a tighter seal
2. keep it in the freezer in a ziplock bag

Thanks much for all your input!  Much appreciated.

If the hole actually goes all the way through the material, make sure the aquaseal can't go through the hole and contact the inside of the other side of the wetsuit!  Buddy of mine had that happen and we had to cut the aquaseal and try to smooth out some edges as it had fused together!

This user's post has been ignored.

I'm a big fan of Ding-All's blob.  I use it on my tri wetsuits and my surfing wetsuits.  It holds up really well and you can pick up a tube of it for about $5.00 at any surf shop.  It sounds like it works just like Aqua Seal. 

If you are in a hurry, use the aquaseal and thin it with Aquaseal Cotol 240.  They can usually both be found at dive shops. 

I thin it about 50/50.  It really fills in the cracks easily and quickly, but may puddle underneath the rip.  (i put some wax paper under the hole)

The cotol not only thins the aquaseal, but accelerates the curing time.  At my 50/50 thinning, it is dry and cured in about 30 minutes.  If you thin it more, the faster it cures. 

If it's just a tear (even a large one) this method is very straight forward and works very well.  I used it at least 5 times this season:
http://www.nineteenwetsuits.com/wetsuit-user-guide/repairing-fingernail-cuts-on-your-wetsuit/

If there's a piece of neoprene missing then as someone mentioned you'll need to get some neoprene and splice it in.

Good Luck


Edited by moosh009 2010-11-05 2:32 PM